A mother has appeared in court accused of mudering her seven-month-old baby in a case described as a “family violence incident” in Australia. Jacinta Beth Sells, 31, wept in court in Perth, Western Australia (WA), on Wednesday and has been remanded in custody.
Police were called to Sells’ family home at around 3am local time on Monday July 14 in the suburb of Balcatta, in the north of Perth. 9News reports it’s believed the infant boy suffered stab wounds in an attack and that Sells was “drug affected”. Perth has a large British expat community, with nearly 10% of local residents having been born in the UK, and there are direct flights to the destination from London. During her court appearance before Magistrate Sandra De Maio, Sells had the charge of murder read out to her and nodded that she understood.
ABC News reports the mother looked at the floor for most of her time in the dock and cried towards the end of the hearing.
The horror case has sent shockwaves across Australia and WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch told a press conference on Tuesday that emergency workers faced a scene which will “haunt” them for the rest of their professional life. He added: “There would be very few cases where you would have a crime scene of such a horrific nature for our officers and for first responders involved.
“It’s something that will most likely haunt them for the rest of their careers.”
WA police said several family members were present at the time of the baby’s death. Col Blanch explained: “There was a male, a female and a young person.”
WA state Premier Roger Cook described the case as “dreadful”, adding: “Our hearts go out to everyone involved in that
“Obviously, there’s family and friends who are impacted by the information that’s coming through.”
Sells was remanded in custody to reappear in Stirling Garden Magistrates Court on August 20.